I recently took my inaugural hike with my new pack full of all that shiny gear that has never been used. I am happy to report that I did not have any straps slip and everything was great. I probably need to add some more weight because I didn’t have anything representing food or clothing in my pack for realistic weight. A large part of this trip was also gear shake out so I wasn’t pushing distance or speed.

The day was a sunny, low seventies day. It was the first that I have seen here this year. I think that there was one in February that I was sick and in bed all day. There was also one last weekend when we were in North Carolina. But the forecast had low seventies all week long. The tide has definitely turned on the weather. It also appears that there is no frost danger in the forecast.

Along this trail system, there are several places marked as viewpoints. I set a goal to hike to the closest viewpoint testing my satellite communicator. I forgot my map so I wasn’t totally sure where it was. But, after a couple of miles I got a good view of Mt. Jefferson and the Three Sisters. I figured that this is good enough.

Mt. Jefferson is the second tallest peak in Oregon. I have grown up within view my whole life. Yes, Mt. Hood gets all the press as it is the tallest and closer to Portland than Mt Jefferson. But still it is an impressive sight. Typically, Mt Jefferson can’t be seen in the Summer or Fall due to air pollution, largely agricultural dust. We all know how many sunny days there are in the Winter and Spring in the Pacific Northwest. It is a special day when it can be seen.

Recently, I was sitting around thinking, I wonder how the mountain got one of the most coveted names of American history? Then it came to me, Jefferson sponsored Lewis and Clark. Of course, but wait they didn’t come through here they would have passed Mt Hood on the Columbia river. Jefferson wasn’t the first name of course, turns out that the natives called it Seekseekqua.

Lewis and Clark did see Mt Jefferson on their journey. The story goes that due to its distance and proximity to Mt Hood, they felt it held a reserved status compared to the other things that they have seen. Those in the know recognize that there is a Mt. Washington and a Mt. Adams as well in the Cascade mountain range. There are places in this state where you can catch many of these mountains from the same viewpoint.

The weather was great, my pack was staying put, how about the satellite communicator? The instructions say that it should be used in a clear and open area. How realistic is that in western Oregon? I wanted to see how would function under typical conditions. After all, how often is an emergency in ideal conditions? The things I was interested in are battery life and effectiveness.

My plan allows for both text messages and pictures as well as periodic bread crumb tracking. The preprogrammed messages are (paraphrased) 1. I am starting, 2. Checking in, all OK, 3. I am done. Those all tested fine. I also successfully sent several free form messages. I made sure that my phone was in airplane mode so that it was not mistakenly communicating in cellular mode.

The picture did not send. More troubleshooting will be necessary. Probably since messages went but pictures no I am thinking that the message size is a problem. I assume that the device will do what it is supposed to do, something that was more potentially concerning was the battery life.

I am not planning on taking a battery or charging capability. In my two hour hike, I used 3% of battery capacity of the inReach. This was leaving breadcrumbs once every 30 minutes. It also requires the phone app to compose and read messages and my phone was about 10% down after the hike. My next test will be just having the communicator on. I think that in order to make it a week, I am going to have to use them somewhat sparingly.

The last thing that I wanted to do was to check the breadcrumbs. Everything worked like it was supposed to. A position once every 30 minutes is not terribly helpful on a 2 hour back and forth hike. I might turn up the frequency just to see it work on the next hike. But, I can say that it works.

End Your Programming Routine: I am definitely checking things off. With Easter last weekend and family obligations next weekend, I have to find some time for some overnights. This weekend seems to be an opportunity that might be too good to pass up for an out and back. Then I can try out my new tent and actually cook as well as do my first consecutive days.